Attraction effects Disney installed but doesn't use ( w/pics if possible )

[DJ Disney Kid]

The space station you are recalling was actually a scene from Horizons.

The top of Spaceship Earth never had anything in it except what was there before the start of the July rehab.

Space station in Spaceship Earth: ( click it for larger photo )

 

[fla4fun]

Space station in Spaceship Earth: ( click it for larger photo )

Yes, that's a picture of the satellite that was in Spaceship Earth. I know the part of Horizons that the pp was referring to, that projected a space station in the background on a screen and then had some astronauts working on some framework close to the ride vehicles, but the setup in Spaceship Earth was different. The "shell" of the space station sort of reminded me of Honeycomb Cereal in shape and was an actual three dimensional set, not a projection. There's a great thread about it on another Disney board.

 

[GrillMouster]

Several years ago, an idea was put in place to try to take ride photos of guests (for purchase) on Haunted Mansion.

The camera was installed behind the glass where you have a ghost riding with you. The camera was installed with the plans (already created) to eventually build a post-ride store (this has been put on hold due to the budget of the recent refurb).

The camera has never been activated and may have just been removed during the recent refurb.

The cameras installed in HM, were designed to be used with a next generation PhotoPass card that would have a smartship (RFID?) embedded in it. This next generation system would enable rides to automatically detect the photopass card while it was in your pocket/bag/whatever and save the photos to your photopass account. The same would be true for PhotoPass photographers throughout all the parks an resorts. Guests would be able to view all of their PhotoPass pictures from the television sets in their Disney resort rooms or view the pictures online or at PhotoPass kiosks (without having to pull out their cards). After installing the cameras in HM, Disney decided not to activate them until the price of smartchips drops to an acceptable level to include them in all PhotoPass cards.

Disney still wants the exit for the HM ride to lead guests through a HM-themed store, as is the case with several other attractions. The plans are to make this happen in stages. First, they will significantly increase the size of the Yankee Trader store that is located near the HM exit. Then, they'll eventually connect the store to the HM building.

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

The cameras installed in HM, were designed to be used with a next generation PhotoPass card that would have a smartship (RFID?) embedded in it. This next generation system would enable rides to automatically detect the photopass card while it was in your pocket/bag/whatever and save the photos to your photopass account. The same would be true for PhotoPass photographers throughout all the parks an resorts. Guests would be able to view all of their PhotoPass pictures from the television sets in their Disney resort rooms or view the pictures online or at PhotoPass kiosks (without having to pull out their cards). After installing the cameras in HM, Disney decided not to activate them until the price of smartchips drops to an acceptable level to include them in all PhotoPass cards.

Disney still wants the exit for the HM ride to lead guests through a HM-themed store, as is the case with several other attractions. The plans are to make this happen in stages. First, they will significantly increase the size of the Yankee Trader store that is located near the HM exit. Then, they'll eventually connect the store to the HM building.

Someones been readin' Jim Hill.

 

[CharmedLife]

Time for an class entitled Boy's 101. They will always be attracted to an adventurous character over a "nice" character.

I'm all for adventurous boys, I have one sleeping in his "world of motion" bedroom right now. I was being a little tongue-in-cheek with my comment about pirates being not-so-nice, I suppose it's hard to get that out of reading someone's comments.

Still, the choice doesn't have to be between pirates (who are essentially bad guys, let's face it, the meaning of the word "pirate" in and of itself implies this) and "sweetness". "Adventurous" characters can be "nice" as well. My kids love movies with heroic boys in them - Peter Pan, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, etc. Even old Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are good for a few stories, and Shark Boy and Lava Girl, etc. There are lots of adventurous, sometimes naughty but generally brave and good at heart characters out there.

Of course, most of the time dressing up as a pirate is going to be more fun (there are so many cool accessories to go along with the costume). My son will probably be dressed up as one for the P & P Party in January. And I'll be the one who bought it for him, because make-believe is better than an X-box (which we don't own, by the way), anyday.

Sorry for going OT!

 

[CharmedLife]

The cameras installed in HM, were designed to be used with a next generation PhotoPass card that would have a smartship (RFID?) embedded in it. This next generation system would enable rides to automatically detect the photopass card while it was in your pocket/bag/whatever and save the photos to your photopass account. The same would be true for PhotoPass photographers throughout all the parks an resorts. Guests would be able to view all of their PhotoPass pictures from the television sets in their Disney resort rooms or view the pictures online or at PhotoPass kiosks (without having to pull out their cards).

Wow - that is SO COOL. I can't wait for this to happen someday! Always something new to look forward to at Disney!

 

[orangekid13]

The cameras installed in HM, were designed to be used with a next generation PhotoPass card that would have a smartship (RFID?) embedded in it. This next generation system would enable rides to automatically detect the photopass card while it was in your pocket/bag/whatever and save the photos to your photopass account. The same would be true for PhotoPass photographers throughout all the parks an resorts. Guests would be able to view all of their PhotoPass pictures from the television sets in their Disney resort rooms or view the pictures online or at PhotoPass kiosks (without having to pull out their cards). After installing the cameras in HM, Disney decided not to activate them until the price of smartchips drops to an acceptable level to include them in all PhotoPass cards.

I hope they have a backup for if the rfid chip gets smashed or otherwise disabled, just some way of viewing recent pictures and having them add yours to your photopass account without having to buy it right there... using photopass to collect ride photos is a great idea

 

[teruterubouzu]

Yes, that's a picture of the satellite that was in Spaceship Earth. I know the part of Horizons that the pp was referring to, that projected a space station in the background on a screen and then had some astronauts working on some framework close to the ride vehicles, but the setup in Spaceship Earth was different. The "shell" of the space station sort of reminded me of Honeycomb Cereal in shape and was an actual three dimensional set, not a projection. There's a great thread about it on another Disney board.

Yes, that was an interesting thread! I tried to post a link, but it was censored out.

 

[Buzz Litebeer]

Splash Mountain has a few things that aren't always up and running. The jumping fish in two of the scenes come to mind.

Also, in the begining as Brer Rabbit runs away there is sometimes a projected shadow of him running off in the distance with the fox and bear chasing him.

No, that effect (Br'er Rabbit being chased by Br'ers Fox and Bear) is working. Sometimes it can be hard to see.

Another, similar effect is a silhouette of Br'er Fox menacing a tied-up Br'er Rabbit AA at the top of the big drop.

 

[Buzz Litebeer]

Disney still wants the exit for the HM ride to lead guests through a HM-themed store, as is the case with several other attractions. The plans are to make this happen in stages. First, they will significantly increase the size of the Yankee Trader store that is located near the HM exit. Then, they'll eventually connect the store to the HM building.

I know what Jim Hill says, but I don't think that'll ever happen.

Besides, at the rate things are going, it won't be themed to the HM at all, but to Nightmare Before Christmas - that's what most of the merch sold at the HM cart consists of, anyway.

 

[Buzz Litebeer]

What is the inside story of what future plans are for Tom Sawyer's Island? If Disney wants a pirate theme area then a pirate refurb of the tired jungle snooze ride would be great.

Well, for the inside story, I contected a good friend of mine who works in Frontierland. Here's what he had to say:

Thundercat: Nope, no plans for the Pirate's Lair overlay at WDW's TSI. Main reason: PotC is nowhere near it -- at Disneyland, PotC sits on the Rivers of America so it makes sense there. The only thing we have on TSI that's pirate themed is a jolly roger flag on Tom's Scavenger Fort at the top of Hickory Switch Hill -- and that makes sense considering that in the book, Tom and Huck would role-play being pirates. Well, that and the River Pirates at Wilson's Cave Inn, but that goes back to 1971 and refers to the movie "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" from the 1950s.

 

[markºoº]

At MK, they do still use the sensors in the street to pipe in music and control the parades. When I took the Backstage Magic tour, you actually get to see the start of the afternoon parade from the computer control room. The route is displayed on a screen and the progress of each float is also displayed. The controller can override the system as necessary. After seeing the start, the tours exits back into the park and then you get get to see the end of parade in front of the train station.

BTW, the Backstage Magic tour is a must for anyone really into Disney and how everything works. Watching the Star Tour simulators running from backstage was really amazing!

 

[perdidochas]

What is the inside story of what future plans are for Tom Sawyer's Island? If Disney wants a pirate theme area then a pirate refurb of the tired jungle snooze ride would be great.

I agree. After Kilimanjaro Safari, the Jungle Cruise is lame. My family will only go on it at night, when it is a little more interesting.

 

[GrillMouster]

I know what Jim Hill says, but I don't think that'll ever happen.

Besides, at the rate things are going, it won't be themed to the HM at all, but to Nightmare Before Christmas - that's what most of the merch sold at the HM cart consists of, anyway.

Nightmare Before Christmas seems to be closely related to HM, now more than ever. The rehab of Haunted Mansion includes a few references to Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Skellington makes a few appearances in HM on the cover of books.

Interesting stuff on Jim Hill's site. Full of scoops and rumors.

 

[Buzz Litebeer]

Nightmare Before Christmas seems to be closely related to HM, now more than ever. The rehab of Haunted Mansion includes a few references to Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Skellington makes a few appearances in HM on the cover of books.

I think the NBC references in the WDW HM are nothing more than references to the NBC themed overlay that is installed at DLR and TDL every Christmas.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I have very, very vague memories of this as a child, I always remembered it being on the right side but chalked it up to faulty old memory when I rode it last year and it was on the left.

I rode the Backlot Tour when I was 4, it completely terrified me (yes, I was that screaming, crying child in the shuttle) and I didn't ride it again until I was 21 years old.

What's the deal?

There used to be fires on both sides of the shuttle while you're in Cat Canyon. The past few years, the fires on the right side haven't been working, only the ones on the left.

(There's a lot of stuff in Cat Canyon that used to work, but isn't working, or isn't used anymore ... but you probably already knew that)

 

[Lisa Hale]

There used to be fires on both sides of the shuttle while you're in Cat Canyon. The past few years, the fires on the right side haven't been working, only the ones on the left.

(There's a lot of stuff in Cat Canyon that used to work, but isn't working, or isn't used anymore ... but you probably already knew that)

We didn't even bother riding that one this year. Seems like they are slowly, but surely, killing it out all together. It wasn't that it was "light the world on fire" exciting, but we thoroughly enjoyed the entire ride. Now, it just isn't what it used to be.

 

[Todd&Copper]

At MK on the Jungle Cruise, I remember (going back 20-odd years, probably) that the hippos used to "spit" at the boat as you passed. This past September, DH saw a nozzle in one of the hippo's mouths and though for sure he was going to get splashed, so he turned his head away. Any one else remember spitting hippos?

 

[tink576]

At MK on the Jungle Cruise, I remember (going back 20-odd years, probably) that the hippos used to "spit" at the boat as you passed. This past September, DH saw a nozzle in one of the hippo's mouths and though for sure he was going to get splashed, so he turned his head away. Any one else remember spitting hippos?

yup they used to spit...I can't seem to place what but jungle cruise (to me at least) seems to have lost something in recent years...it just doesn't seem to be the same...but who knows what I think is actually missing

 

[FloraFauna]

On my last few trips the smoke ring effect wasn't being used in the Winnie the Pooh ride-

this is a great list!

My kids love that effect. We were disappointed back in June when we rode this ride and no smoke ring